Search begins for ASU president:Committee chairman: 'It has to be the perfect fit'

Chairman: 'It has to be the perfect fit'

Feb. 8, 2013

Elton Dean, left, member of the Alabama State University Board of Trustees, talks with Gov. Robert Bentley, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, at the Acadome in Montgomery, Ala., shortly before the Board announced the names on the search committee for a new president. (AP Photo/al.com, Julie Bennett) / AP

The committee selecting the next Alabama State University president will take its time, will find a dynamic leader and will avoid mistakes of the past.

Those were the themes Friday at the first meeting of the ASU presidential search committee. The 15-member committee met for approximately 20 minutes in the board room of the Dunn-Oliver Acadome, during which they decided not to immediately employ a search firm and to schedule future meetings for Thursdays.

“We just have to make sure that we find the caliber person that we want to lead this university,” said Marvin Wiggins, an ASU trustee who is serving as the chairman of the search committee. “It has to be the perfect fit for this university. It’s almost as if it’s not the person finding us, it’s us finding the right person to lead this great university.”

ASU is searching for a new president after Joseph Silver and the university agreed to a mutual separation agreement in December, ending his tumultuous tenure. Much of the campus was shocked when after only two months on the job, he was placed on leave in November. Silver said it was because he had questioned university contracts and accused ASU officials of financial mismanagement. ASU officials denied those allegations, and two audits, including a forensic audit being conducted by the governor’s office, are under way.

Despite those issues, committee members are optimistic they can still attract a solid candidate and achieve some very lofty goals.

Donald Watkins, a former trustee whose father, Levi Watkins, served as ASU’s president for 19 years (1962-81), laid out a grand plan for the university’s future.

“We want a medical school. We want a law school. We want Division I-A football,” Watkins said. “We have big ideas for this university. We want to expand our international footprint into South America, Africa and Asia. This board has a good master plan. We don’t need someone with a new master plan. We need the right person who can implement the one we have.”

The committee members expressed confidence that this can be achieved, primarily by casting a wide net. Or as Watkins put it: “Deepening our pool.”

“We need to make sure we do all we can to attract candidates and search them out,” he said. “That’s why I was glad to hear that we’re going to do more than just advertise in a few publications for candidates.”

Another reason the committee is optimistic is because it’s under no constraints this time around.

During the last search, a discrimination lawsuit resulted in ASU’s presidential search having a time limit. While Wiggins said he believes that time limit ultimately had no real effect on the last search, he said being free to take its time would serve the search committee well.

“There’s no need to rush anything,” he said. “We can interview every potential candidate and take our time. We have a great president (interim William Harris) in place, so we can do a thorough job.”

When it concludes, Watkins said he hopes the search has produced a visionary.

“We need someone who can lead this school for the next 10 years,” Watkins said.